The Vietnam War was a military conflict that took place between the years of 1965 and 1973 in the Indo-China Peninsula, more commonly known as the countries of Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. The war concerned the communists of North Vietnam, China, North Korea and the USSR, and the Nationalists/Capitalists of South Vietnam and the United States.

Vietnam originally had been a part of China, until it broke away from them in 938AD and became an independent country. It then was taken control of by the French army in the late 19th century, and remained the same for the better half of the next century or so. The Japanese was able to obtain temporary control over Vietnam in the early months of 1945, but had to hand Vietnam back to the French after their loss in the Second World War. But both the nationalists and the communists wanted independence, and fought alongside each other against the French, until they decided to pull out of Vietnam in 1954. Vietnam was then divided into two separate states not unlike North and South Korea, with the communist party, controlled by Ho Chi Minh, in the North and the nationalists, controlled by Diem, in the South.

The USA decided to partake in the Vietnam War. This was mainly because of the Truman Doctrine. Though the only immediate and explicit effect of this doctrine was the aid from the USA to Turkey and Greece, it showed that the US were on a stage of ‘containment’ and wished to aid anyone and everyone who wanted to fight communism, with the exception of already communist countries. The other reason for their participation in the war is because of the ‘domino’ theory. The Southern Asian countries were all shifting to communism, and the Americans (wrongly) believed that as soon as one country is liberated from communism the other countries would be soon to follow without any influence from the United States. The Americans stated that their aim in the Vietnam War was to ‘defend South Vietnam’.

Another reason, or rather excuse, for the Americans to get involved in the Vietnam War was the Gulf of Tonkin Incident(s) where there were naval clashes between the US and North Vietnam. There was little damage in the first incident, where the American Aircraft and destroyer received light damage as well as three Vietnamese Torpedo boats. There were no casualties on the American side, though around 10 sailors from North Vietnam were reported to be wounded or killed. The second incident resulted in the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which allowed the US to help any South-Eastern Asian country aid, if they wanted it, against communist aggression.

In 1965 the US president was President Johnson. At the start of this year, there were regular air raids on the North Vietnamese territory from the US air-force, but Johnson did not think that this would be enough to aid the government of Diem enough to hold up against the army of Ho Chi Minh, even though it was calculated that more bombs were dropped on Vietnam than on Berlin in the course of the whole second world war. He then decided to send in huge American forces into Vietnam, around one hundred and eighty thousand soldiers at first, and gradually increased to five hundred thousand soldiers in the next three years. At this point it seemed as if the Americans were not merely ‘aiding’ the South Vietnamese army, but was actually fighting the war for them.

The Americans also encouraged a few nationalist generals to overthrow Diem, who seemed obviously at the point a very unpopular and very weak ruler of nationalist Vietnam. General Thieu became the new leader of South Vietnam, and had a very strong position due to American aid and help in Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh and his generals knew very well that the USA was very skilled and hard-to-beat in open warfare. So, they avoided the traditional warfare the Americans were so used to completely, which proved a very big problem for the US army. Ho Chi Minh preferred to use Vietcong Fighters, which were communist forces in South Vietnam, who, along with the North Vietnamese army, were very skilled with guerrilla warfare. They sabotaged US supplies and organised sudden ambushes that the US were very bad at uncovering. They had almost no way to respond to this kind of attack. Another important reason why the Americans were unable to fight at their fullest potential was that though they were really skilled in offensive tactics, their stay in Vietnam initially was ordered to be purely defensive. The US marines, to put it bluntly, lacked the flexibility and psychological means that is essential to defensive mission. Because of this, US had to employ extreme (not THAT extreme) methods in order to cope with the guerrilla attacks made by the Vietcong fighters.

The US responded with two ways to cope with the guerrilla tactics employed by the Vietcong Fighters. The first of which was to drop massive loads of bombs to destroy possible supply lines for the Vietcong fighters, so as to tire them out. The second was to used chemical warfare and destroy areas of the countryside where the US army suspected of hiding communists. The second method was extremely cruel and hated by many people. It usually involved napalm, which was a chemical that burns sticks to the skin and burns it away slowly. What was worse about this chemical was that you could not even water it down or even wash it in any way. The more water you pour on it the more fiercely it burns the skin. The US response to the guerrilla tactics proved not only ineffective but on the contrary angered ordinary Vietnamese people, and made it even easier for Ho Chi Minh to rally their support during the years of the Vietnam War. Countless civilians were killed by the US army, when they tried to stop the guerrilla warfare.

Another difficulty faced by the Americans during the Vietnam War was the public protests against the Vietnam War. There has never been any real massive protests in public areas against the various wars the USA had to fight, but the introduction of one weapon made this inevitable; television. In the previous wars that the United States fought, war was seen as an almost romantic thing – people were to sail or fly away to far, foreign places, frightening the souls of fearful adversaries, and then to die helping their countries cause. But now, people are able to physically see the horrific nature of Modern Warfare 2.

Another reason for the protests against the Vietnam War was the resulted of the Tet offensive. The Tet offensive was an all out attack on South Vietnam, especially around the areas of Saigon, their Capital. Though the offensive was a short-term failure for the Vietcong fighters, as the US army managed to re-capture the areas taken within a few days and over fifty thousand Vietcong fighters were killed, the long term negative effect on the US was undeniably strong. The Tet offensive is widely seen as a turning point in the Vietnam War. Back in the USA, people saw the dying/dead/about to die/unconscious Vietcong fighters outside the American Embassy building well within American grounds saw that many people became disillusioned about the war. Up until this point most people believed that they were close to victory in Vietnam, but seeing foreign forces infiltrate the place that was by all means supposed to be a safe Haven and un-breakable territory ridiculed that notion.  The anti-war movements in the United States grew in strength and many politicians (correctly) saw that there was simply no way that America can win the Vietnam War. As quoted from this random American politician called Dean Acheson (open quote) The issue is can we by military means keep the North Vietnamese off the South Vietnamese? I do not think we can. (Close quote).

The Americans decided to pull out of South Vietnam after a number of peace talks with both the North Vietnamese and the nations supporting it. Nixon arranged a cease fire in 1973 and straight afterwards withdrew his forces from Vietnam. The results from Vietnam were disastrous for the Vietnamese. More than fifty five thousand soldiers were killed and countless more wounded. The Americans also suffered a grievous blow to their pride and confidence. After the War the USA started to get friendlier with the communist countries and started an era know as détente, which basically means peace with the communist world.

Nixon decided and announced in 1971 that he would visit China, and this visit took place in 1972. Since the communist party of China triumphed and emerged with a Communist China the USA had not even recognised this state.

Nixon then lessened the arms race with the Soviet Union, in talks known as the SALT talks.

Most importantly, as soon the Americans withdrew from South Vietnam, the communist forces forced their way into the South, and within one or two years, had complete control over the whole of Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh emerged as triumphant. Also, the neighbouring countries of Cambodia and Laos was converted in this period as well, inspired by the wars in Vietnam.

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finem di dederint, Leuconoe, nec Babylonios

temptaris numeros…”

Horace here addresses a lover and cautions her not to seek to know what end the gods will give “to me, to you”, for it is a crime, a sacred violation, to try to foretell the future.  In her anxiety to know the future she has been partaking of cultic practices, numerology/astrology.  Perhaps she wants to know how long she has the trust and love of this sophisticate.  Maybe she has a fear of death.  Either way, her anxiety is contrary to Horace’s view of life and love.

                     …Ut melius quicquid erit pati,

seu pluris hiemes, seu tribuit Iuppiter ultimam,

quae nunc oppositis debilitat pumicibus mare

Tyrrhenum…”

Hours spent studying the Babylonian fortune-telling charts are fruitless.  What ever will be, will be. Fate must be “suffered”, “pati” (from which we get the word “passion”, with both its implications of romance or pain), whether Jupiter grants many winters, or whether he demands your life today.  Foreknowledge is as useless as the sea which tries to tear at rocky cliffs (for the Roman, the sea indicates the changing and unreliable; land is stable, good and unchanging).  Futility is all that Leuconoe, can achieve.  Even if her numerology proves true, she cannot use this information to change the future. 

(Two exempla from Christianity that mirror this mentality:

Augustine walking by the sea  trying to understand the Trinity.

The people so involved with visions of the Apocalypse, but who fail to live the daily message of the Gospel.)

          “…Sapias vina liques et spatio brevi

spem longam reseces. Dum loquimur, fugerit invida

aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.”

Finally the famous phrase, but what does it mean? It occurs within a metaphor comparing Leuconoe’s behavior to that of the vintner.  She should be wise and strain the wine before she drinks it.  The Roman wine jugs would have contained the dregs.  It is proper and fitting to clarify the liquid before imbibing.    She should trim back her far-flung anxieties as the farmer cuts back the tendrils that wildly reach for supports in the air.   Fear is not elegant, and more than anything, the poet desires good form.  While we converse, old age will flee.  The day, like a ripe grape, must be plucked, not seized, in its fullness. 

When we imbibe properly, when we give ourselves to the conversation that opens up in those low-lit moments, when we act on the impulse that has matured under the master’s tutelage, then anxiety appears as what it truly is: a form of foolishness parading as knowledge.

The United State’s involvement in Vietnam can be traced back to the immediate results of the First Indochina War, which led to a humiliating defeat of the French and their withdrawal from North Vietnam, which came under communist forces. The Geneva Accords, which ended the First Indochina War, temporarily divided Vietnam into two sections: a communist north and an anti-communist south, pending a national election to unify them. The United Stated, fearing a communist victory in national elections and a communist takeover of South Vietnam, supported the South Vietnamese government to elect Ngo Dinh Diem, a staunch anti-communist, as Prime Minister.

The United States feared if South Vietnam were to fall to communism; the rest of Indochina would follow. They believed a “domino effect” would follow any small communist changes in South Vietnam or any concessions made to communists. The United States believed the best way to prevent this from happening was to contain communism. Various American politicians argued to prevent a domino effect, the United States must contain the spread of communism at any cost. This theory fueled much of the United States policies toward Vietnam, such as their support for Diem.

Diem’s rein was repressive at best. He canceled the nation-wide elections that were to unify Vietnam and instead rigged election in South Vietnam to elect himself president and create the Republic of Vietnam. However, Diem retained the United States backing because he was staunchly anti-communist. As Diem’s regime became increasingly repressive, resistance to his government increased, especially in rural areas. The Unites States, in an attempt to prevent Diem’s government from collapsing sent military advisors and financial consultants to aid Diem’s regime. However, the resistance was strong, so United States created the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN), which Diem used to crush communist and other rebels.

However, when Kennedy took office in January 1961, he faced an increasingly unsuccessful policy in Vietnam. The ARVN faced desertion, corruption, double agents, and a lack of effectiveness. Kennedy, however, believed that the ARVN could still become effective with proper steps. Kennedy increased the number of American advisors to the ARVN from 800 in January 1961 to 16,700 in November 1963. Kennedy believed if the ARVN could win the support of the Vietnamese villages the National Liberation Front (NLF) insurgency could be defeated. Kennedy began The Strategic Hamlet Program, which was an attempt to resettle villagers into fortified camps. The aim was to isolate the population from the insurgents, provide education and health care, and strengthen the government’s hold over the countryside.

However, Kennedy’s policy was largely unsuccessful. The peasants usually resented being resettled, and the resentment only added to the NLF’s support base. Diem’s government was highly corrupt, and Diem appointed his brother Nhu to administer the program. Nhu, a corrupt official himself, undermined the program by his harsh policies. For example, he often charged villagers for material the United States had donated and many peasants were forced to leave their hamlets. The effect of Kennedy’s and Diem’s Strategic Hamlet Program was more harmful the helpful.

The Kennedy Administration began to blame Diem’s incompetence for the failure of the South Vietnamese government. Diem was urged to remove his brother, but he refused to. When the United States was informed that a military coup was planned against Diem, it did not act. The confusion following Diem’s assassination led to deteriorate, the NLF gained more ground in South Vietnam. Soon after Kennedy, was assassinated and Johnson took office.

If Kennedy had not been assassinated, the course of Vietnam could and would have been dramatically different. Before his death, Kennedy had clearly expressed the intent of withdrawal and had already acted upon it by removing 1000 advisers. However, he was not able to act upon the rest of his plan. Johnson had a very different view on the war. He believed he needed to take forceful action against the NLF to scare the North Vietnamese and other communists from acting. Johnson began a covert bombing campaign, known as Rolling Thunder, against North Vietnamese and other communist targets in Indochina. Johnson approved commando raids, navy surveillance, and secret bombings against targets in North Vietnam and Laos (the NLF were belied to be supplied from Laos). Johnson also increased the number of advisors in Vietnam to about 27,000 reversing to what his predecessor had done.

The involvement of the US was greatly escalated by the Gulf of Tonkin incident in August of 1964. According to President Johnson, the North Vietnamese had fired on the USS Maddox and Turner Joy without provocation. As a result, Congress overwhelmingly passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which gave Johnson authority for the use of military force without an official declaration of war from Congress. Johnson would use this resolution as the legal basis for the dramatic escalation of US involvement. It basically gave Johnson a “blank check” to do as he wished in Vietnam, which protesters began to complain in a short time.

Soon after, Johnson utilized Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, in his policy of escalation. The idea that the South Vietnamese government could manage the affairs of the country was abandoned. The US adopted the strategy of creating a war of attrition, upon General William Westmoreland’s advice, who took over Military Assistance Command in Vietnam in 1964. The strategy required escalation of US troops to wear down the other side. It was decided in March 1965 that the United States Air Force could not handle the war alone, so 3,500 US Marines were sent as aid. A staggering 200,000 Marines were in Vietnam in December of the same year, showing the dramatic effect of the war of attrition. Westmoreland had a three point plan to win the war which included “major offensive actions” for the “final destruction of enemy forces.”

The turning point in the war for the American public was the Tet Offensive in 1967. During the traditional cease-fire of Tet, or the Vietnamese observance of the lunar New Year, the Vietcong led a surprise attack on American and South Vietnamese forces mainly in the cities of Saigon and Hue. The city of Hue experienced the bloodiest fighting, and American onlookers watched on in horror as they received images through photographs and videos on television. There were massive killings of NLF by US soldiers and the massive casualties sparked controversy over the war.

Public opinion of the war had been favorable at first, because they had seen the war in the larger effort against communism. However, public support waned as scandals began to be exposed in the government. Many did not come to believe Johnson, seeing him as a lying politician typical of those days and began to mistrust the news as they believed there was a “credibility gap.” Especially after the Tet Offensive, there was a battle between hawks, those who supported war, and doves, those who opposed it. A greater number of Americans supported a complete withdrawal from the war, after seeing how many casualties it would take to end. A greater amount of doves were also more outspoken. In fact, the stress of the war and the hostile public opposition led Johnson not to run again in 1968.

Johnson’s unsuccessful policy was caused by numerous factors, especially the underestimation of the North Vietnamese people. Operation Rolling Thunder was not a success because North Vietnam was highly agrarian, and as a result, there were not many heavily populated or industrial areas which the US could target. Also, the Viet Cong were much more resilient than Johnson had expected. Their motivation, willingness, and dedication were higher than those of the American soldiers. Vietnamese soldiers were more willing to die, a major setback in Johnson’s strategy. The US was forced to fight an offensive war, and as a result, they would have to pay the higher price. The terrain was unfamiliar, and the US soldiers could not differentiate between friend and foe. The US was simply not prepared for this kind of war, and Johnson’s greatest mistake was to escalate involvement instead of reducing it like his predecessor had wished. As a result, he was haunted by Vietnam for the rest of his life.

A new face would enter the war: Richard Nixon, who promised “peace with honor” in Vietnam with his policy of Vietnamization. It was the process of training South Vietnamese soldiers to fend for themselves. Nixon also pursued negotiations, which were marginally successful because he signed an arms reduction treaty with the Soviet Union in his policy known as détente, but he failed to stop them from continuing to support North Vietnam. Although to the public he seemed to be ending the war, Nixon actually did some of the opposite. He escalated the Phoenix Program, where the CIA killed 20,000 suspected NLF members, many of whom were actually innocent and ordered the secret bombing of Cambodia in 1969. While the four years of bombing did upset the Cambodian people’s lives, it was a failure because NLF base camps were not destroyed. He also had Laos secretly bombed, which also led to the destruction and upheaval of the natives.

Public opposition soared during Nixon’s presidency, as a result of the exposure of several scandals. The My Lai Massacre, the killing of 300 innocent Vietnamese civilians by US soldiers, polarized many against the war as they saw the brutality and the murder involved. The Pentagon Papers were not much of a help either as these papers exposed the President’s secret bombings of Cambodia and Laos, sparking outrage across the country. These papers also showed that the real motive of the war was to uphold the US’s reputation instead of trying to help a nation in need. As a result, protests dramatically increased. One notable one in Kent State University resulted in four civilians being shot by the National Guard. The nation had become divided, yet the movement to end the war had gained a loud voice.

Nixon’s policy of Vietnamization was tested in the Easter Offensive, an invasion of South Vietnam, when it was made clear that South Vietnam would need US help to survive. Nixon even reverted to the first bombing of Vietnam since 1969, showing the recession into aggressive military tactics. The bombings, popularly known as the Christmas Bombings were meant to intimidate North Vietnam into agreement with American terms for a cease-fire, and the campaign was successful. The Paris Peace Accords were signed on January 27, 1973 ended direct US involvement in the war. In its terms, American POWs were released, fighting was temporarily ended between North and South Vietnam, the US had sixty days to leave, and the reunification of Vietnam was encouraged.

However, the Paris Peace Accords were not upheld by the Vietnamese. By then, Nixon had resigned after Watergate and Ford had taken office. The North Vietnamese invaded the South in 1975, but Ford was unable to act because of the majority of Democrats in Congress. Without US aid, South Vietnam began to crumble rapidly as it flew deeper into a pit of despair. The North Vietnamese continued with their offense, capturing cities and towns along the way. Finally they arrived at the capital city of Saigon, and the South Vietnamese were powerless to defend it. The fall of Saigon marked the end of the Vietnam War.

Nixon, promising peace, did succeed in that effort, but his foreign policy was a failure. The corruption during his presidency contributed to the loss of public support, thus sealing in defeat. His unwise decisions to bomb the neighboring countries of Cambodia and Laos were only in successful in alienating the public. His policy of Vietnamization was a failure; the South Vietnamese were not adequately prepared to hold up on their own, which is indicated by the quick fall of Saigon.

The aftermath of the war was enormous. Many soldiers returned home, their lives having been scarred forever and forced to deal with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Many families had to endure the loss of a loved one – at least 58,000 American troops had died. The nation was now in a deep federal deficit, spurred by military spending in the Vietnam War and Johnson’s Great Society programs. The US economy had to suffer as soaring inflation and a stagnant economy led to a new economic problem – “stagflation.” There was a growing resentment and mistrust of the federal government, caused by all the secrecy and lies the government had been involved during the war.

Whether or not the US made the right decision with increased involvement is highly debated. Their involvement should have never been expanded, because anything further than that became an American war, because they would have been too involved. The Marines should have never been sent in, and Johnson should have followed Kennedy’s plan. South Vietnam ultimately did fall to North Vietnam, meaning the war would have had the same outcome whether the US left in 1975 or in 1963. Even after Operation Rolling Thunder, the US should have calculated how difficult a land war would have been. US involvement was not justified, because the nation even ended up committing horrible crimes against the South Vietnamese.

American failure in Vietnam was caused by numerous factors, most namely difficulties of fighting an offensive war, poor leadership, and unexpected North Vietnamese morale resulting in countless deaths that could have been avoided. The war would drag on for what felt like centuries, claiming around 58,000 American lives and countless Vietnamese. It would leave a beautiful nation in tatters, just to fight communism.

During the late 19th to World War II, Vietnam was governed by France as part of French Indochina. In 1940, during World War II, the Japanese forces invaded and captured French Indochina. The Vietnamese saw World War II as an opportunity to gain independence and in 1941, the Vietnamese nationalists established Viet Minh, the League for the Independence of Vietnam. Based mainly on communist ideologies, the Viet Minh gained support for its independence movement as well social and political reforms. When Japan declared formal surrender on September 2nd, 1945, Ho Chi Minh, the leader of Viet Minh, used the opportunity to declare independence for Vietnam, calling the nation the democratic republic of Vietnam. France, however, refused to acknowledge the independence of Vietnam and drove the Viet Minh to the north of the country.

Ho Chi Minh immediately implored American President Harry Truman to recognize Vietnamese independence and assist the Vietnamese. However, the American foreign policy during the Cold War was the containment of communism, therefore making President Truman reluctant to help. Although Ho Chi Minh was not a puppet of communist Soviet Union, he was a communist nonetheless and as a result, the United States condemned Ho Chi Minh and provided assistance to France instead. Although with American help, the Viet Minh grew larger and larger everyday and soon, the French were fighting them to a draw. After the humiliating Battle of Dien Bien Phu, the French government wanted to settle for peace at the Geneva Conference. From the 8th of May to the 21st of July, 1954, diplomats form the World’s major nations met at Geneva and made an agreement for the future of Vietnam. The agreement, known as the Geneva Accords, agrees to temporarily divide Vietnam at the 17th parallel.

France would occupy the South of Vietnam and the Viet Minh would occupy the North. In July 1956, both South and North Vietnam would hold elections and the form of government chosen by popular vote would reunify Vietnam. The United States, however, did not want the possibility of a communist takeover of Vietnam and had Diem appointed as the prime minister of South Vietnam because of Diem’s anti-communist sentiment. Along with American support, Diem refused to sign the Geneva Accords. Immediately following that, the United States founded the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, a treaty that protected several Indochina nations from communism, a justification used to support South Vietnam.

At the same time, Diem announced that he would not take part in the elections in July 1956 because he was bound to lose and declared South Vietnam as an independent nation, the Republic of Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh immediately saw this as an American attempt to interfere with Vietnamese reunification and began the long fight with America and South Vietnam. This was the background to the Vietnam War.

When the expected elections in July did not take place, the Viet Minh planned the overthrow of the government of Diem. Because of the strong anti-Diem sentiment present throughout Vietnam during the 1960s, the Viet Cong (as the Viet Minh later became known) established the National Liberation Front, a typical Communist-front organization and began training troops for guerilla warfare. The fighting began in 1957 and although US advisors were sent early on by President Eisenhower, American troops were not active until 1965. Unlike most other wars fought in American history, the American president at the time sent troops without an official declaration of war from Congress. I asked Mr. Grant on his opinion as to whether he approved this action, he said, “It is the order of the president. He must have a reason for doing so.”

However, not everyone felt that way. Protest against the Vietnam War stated as early as 1963 with the first protest taking place at the University of Wisconsin. However, at the time, protests were small, but it grew slowly. The Vietnam War was already becoming unpopular even at the time. Mr. Johnson is an example of the people who were against the war. When asked the same question, he stated, “He is after all the president, but that is an interesting question… I do not think, however, that the war should have been fought.” This is an early example of the unpopularity of the war.

Another example of the early unpopularity was because of the military draft at the time. Generally speaking, conscription remained at a very low level during the Cold war, but increased greatly during the Vietnam War to provide more troops for the conflict. Protests against the draft began as early as October 15, 1965, when the student ran National Coordinating Committee to End the War in Vietnam staged the first public burning of draft cards in the history of America. Soon, protest against the draft system was common and famous lines against the system became heard everywhere. These lines included, “Draft beer, not boys” and “Hell no, we won’t go” as well as many others. When I asked Mr. Johnson whether he was opposed to the draft or not, he stated, “Well, I don’t know too many people at the time who did support the draft mainly because it was such an unpopular war… I was hoping I wouldn’t get picked for the draft.”

This was indeed the typical American feeling at the time. Many protests directed at the draft claimed that it was unfair as at the time, only a number of men of draft age were actually conscripted. Those who were exempt were the lucky ones as there was no guidelines as to who would be exempt and who would not be. However, because of the protests, in 1970, the draft system was changed to the lottery system and people became drafted because of their birthday. When I asked for Mr. Grant’s opinion on the draft, he stated that it was not a matter of liking it or not, it was that he had to go. Apparently, he came from a very military family and he was expected to enter the military.

In addition to protesting the draft, many young Americans found methods to evade the military draft. Thousands of Americans went into exile to Canada or Sweden and others gained exemption. The Japanese anti-war group known as Beheiren helped Americans hide from the Japanese military. Others attended college and some got married, which was always an exemption. Others found sympathetic doctors who claimed that they were unfit and others joined the Peace Corps as a means of avoiding the war. Some even went on to claim that they were homosexual, which was an exemption from the war, though not too many did it because of the stigma involved. As Mr. Johnson told me, “I knew a friend who was about to flee to Canada if he ever got conscripted. Fortunately, he did not, but he would have fled if he was.” The military draft was another reason why the Vietnam War became so unpopular.

A third reason why the war was so unpopular was because of Johnson’s second term. Although Johnson did not like the war that he inherited from Kennedy, he also did not want America to look weak in the eyes of its allies and other foreign nations. As a result, he escalated the war, causing thousands of American deaths. In two weeks of May, 1968, alone, American deaths numbered at 1,800. “No,” stated Mr. Johnson when asked whether supported Johnson’s escalation of the war, “not at all.” This was the typical American feeling at the time. Common anti-war slogans directed at Johnson at the time were, “Hey, hey LBJ, how many kids have you killed today?” and “One, two, three, four! We don’t want your f***ing war!”. Although Mr. Grant held rather mixed opinions on this matter, he too did not like all the “excess” casualties going on. The sudden escalation of the war was simply another reason that made the war so unpopular.

One of the most infamous reasons as to why the war was so unpopular was the My Lai Massacre. Committed by the Charlie Company, 11th Brigade, it was the massacre of hundreds of unarmed Vietnamese civilians, mostly women and children. In January, 1968, the 11th Brigade was informed from military intelligence that the 48th Battalion of the National Liberation front had retreated to My Lai village. A number of hamlets within the village were suspected of harboring members of the 48th Battalion and offensives were planned to get rid of them. On the eve of the attack, the Charlie Company was convinced that villagers who did not leave to go to the market by 7 a.m. are either members of the Viet Cong or sympathizers of them. They were ordered to destroy the entire village and when the captain was asked whether to include women and children, there were different accounts of his briefing.

As a result, Lieutenant Calley ordered the murder and rape the civilians there. “I was shocked at this,” said Mr. Johnson in the interview, “it was really horrifying that such a thong would happen.” Like most other Americans, Mr. Johnson was incredibly shocked at the massacre. This massacre fueled the anger of the American peace movement and they demanded that troops be removed from Vietnam and that there would be better volunteers to provide better leadership. More importantly, it changed the attitude of the American public towards a more anti-war attitude. The horrific stories of the soldiers were taken more seriously and more atrocities came to light. This is one of the main reasons why the Vietnam War was so unpopular.

Another reason the war was so unpopular were the large number of protests involved. While I interviewed him, Mr. Johnson told me about his experiences from the protests of the Vietnam War. He told me that although he never participated in any protests against the war, he had quite a few friends who did. Despite that protests were small and slow at first, it quickly grew and can be credited for removing the troops from Vietnam. By 1973, due to the escalating number of casualties and success of the Viet Cong, most people felt that the war could no longer be won.

Many anti-war supporters argued that the war was immoral, that there was no clear objective, and that South Vietnam lacked political legitimacy. Mr. Grant, being a veteran, was unlikely to participate in protests against the war and did not. However, he told me, “At the time, I felt angry at the protestors for protesting while we where fighting for our lives in Vietnam… I later realized that had there not been protests, then the war would have been longer and there would have been more deaths.” There were quite a few veterans that protested against the war and on June 1st, the Vietnam Veterans Against the War was founded. Protests were a major reason as to why the war was so unpopular.

Possibly the last major reason as to why the war became so unpopular was the American lose, the only war lost in the history of America. On April 30, 1975, Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, was captured by the North Vietnamese army, thus marking the end of the war. “It really saddens me that we came thinking we were fighting for the right thing, but in the end, we ended losing.” Mr. Grant was not the only one saddened by the end of the war. Although it finally brought an end to the killing, it was the first lose in American history and an embarrassment as well.

After interviewing both Mr. Johnson, a music teacher, and Mr. Grant, a Vietnam War veteran, I was able to learn many fascinating ideas and experiences from them. However, after the to interviews, I noticed something in common from both interviews, that they were both rather negative about the war. Though Mr. Grant had a more positive feeling about the war than Mr. Johnson, it was, nevertheless, quite negative. Through the research, I learned many fascinating facts about the Vietnam War and the many examples of anti-war sentiment. Indeed, Vietnam was very unpopular but like all wars, in the words of someone else, no body truly wins. In the end, everyone loses something.

On October 5, President Kennedy issued a final policy directive that remained in effect until the Diem coup on November 1:

“President today approved recommendation that no initiative should now be taken to give any active covert encouragement to a coup. There should however be, urgent, covert effort…to identify and build contacts with possible alternative leadership…Essential that this effort be totally secure and fully deniable.”

On October 24, Lodge sent CIA contact Conein to meet with General Don one more time to discuss progress of the coup, which now was planned for the week leading up to November 2. The coup had entered its final stage and Lodge had one more meeting to attend to: that with the President of the Republic. Lodge met Diem on October 28. He described him as “very likeable.” In an act of extreme duplicity Lodge responded to Diem’s accusations, that anti-GVN activity was being conducted by agencies of the American government, by coldly insisting that should he have any proof of “improper action by any employee of the U.S. government…I will see he leaves Vietnam.” Presumably, he was not referring to himself.

On October 30, Lodge sent one more cable about an imminence of a coup, concluding once more that the U.S. was in no position to stop or delay a coup. While the President’s security adviser William Bundy cabled a response denying that this was the case, the window for action had been closed and the coup was imminent. On November 1, General Harkins received the first report of the coup taking place, with “with the central police station being seized. Diem, upon hearing of the coup, called the ambassador asking him what the opinion of the U.S. government was:

• Diem: Some unites have made a rebellion and I want to know: What is the attitude of the U.S.?

• Lodge: I do not feel well enough informed to be able to tell you. Also, it is 4:30 a.m. in Washington and U.S. government cannot possibly have a view.

• Diem: But you must have some general ideas. After all, I am a chief of state. I have tried to do my duty.

• Lodge: You have certainly done your duty…I admire your courage and your great contributions to your country…Now I am worried about your physical safety…

• Diem: You have my telephone number?

• Lodge: Yes. If I can do anything for your physical safety, please call me.

• Diem I’m trying to re-establish order.

After the phone call with Diem, Lodge sent a cable to Washington describing events so far. Diem never did re-establish order. He escaped with his brother Nhu from the besieged Presidential palace and fled to a hideout in Dalat, the same city where Lodge and Diem had dedicated a nuclear reactor only three days earlier. Diem was subsequently captured by the army at a Catholic church in Dalat. He was killed soon after.

President Kennedy, upon hearing the death of Diem, “leaped to his feet and rushed from the room with a look of shock and dismay on his face…he always insisted that Diem must never suffer more than exile. In a taped recording on November 4, President Kennedy took personal responsibility for the death of Diem and added that Lodge had been inclined from early august to remove Diem from office. For Lodge, the coup provided him an opportunity to reflect on the events of the past three months in Vietnam. It also allowed Lodge to defend his role to the Kennedy administration and to reassure himself that he had made the right decisions:

“At the time of the pagodas raids of August 21, U.S.G. and GVN seemed to be totally deadlocked…We were being totally taken for granted by the GVN…There is no doubt that the coup was a Vietnamese and a popular affair, which we could neither manage nor stop after it got started…But it is equally certain that the ground in which the coup seed grew into a robust plant was prepared by us and that the coup would not have happened [when] it did without our preparation…All this may be a useful lesson in the use of U.S. power for those who face similar situation in other places in the future…Perhaps the U.S. government has here evolved a way of not being everywhere saddled with responsibility for autocratic governments simply because they are anti-communist…Clearly the coup has brought about change; let us hope it will turn out to be a great improvement…Our actions were not ‘colonial’ and when Madame Nhu accused me of acting like the Governor General of Indochina, it did not ring true.”

In the next three years, South Vietnam experienced four more coups. Relative stability returned only with the regime of Thieu in 1967. President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas on November 22, 1963. And Ambassador Lodge continued his term as ambassador until 1964 and was re-elected to that position by President Johnson in 1965.